Exo 33:1, The Lord refuses to go as he had promised with the people; Exo 33:4, The people mourn thereat; Exo 33:7, The tabernacle is removed out of the camp; Exo 33:9, The Lord talks familiarly with Moses; Exo 33:12, Moses prevails with God, and desires to see his glory.

the tabernacle: Eth haohel, the Tent, not eth hammishcan, the Tabernacle, for this was not erected; but probably the tent of Moses, which was before in the midst of the camp, and to which the people came for judgment; and where, no doubt, God frequently met his servant. This situation, as well as the superior elegance, of a chief's tent, was one mode by which he was honoured.

Thou canst not: This is well explained by Rabbi Jehudah, in Sepher Cosri (P. iv. 3): "Of that divine glory mentioned in the Scripture, there is one degree which the eyes of the prophets were able to explore; another which all the Israelites saw, as the cloud and consuming fire; the third is so bright, and so dazzling, that no mortal is able to comprehend it; but should anyone venture to look on it, his whole frame would be dissolved." In such inconceivable splendour is the Divine Majesty revealed to the inhabitants of the celestial world, where he is said to "dwell in the light which no man can approach unto" (Ti1 6:16). By the "face of God," therefore, we are to understand that light inaccessible before which angels may stand, but which would be so insufferable to mortal eyes, that no man could see it and live. Exo 24:10; Gen 32:30; Deu 5:24; Jdg 6:22, Jdg 13:22; Isa 6:5; Joh 1:18; Ti1 6:16; Heb 1:13; Rev 1:16, Rev 1:17

cover thee: Deu 33:12; Psa 91:1, Psa 91:4; The rock on which Moses stood, and in the clift of which he was sheltered, was doubtless an emblem of Christ; in whose person, character, and salvation alone, sinners may by faith see the glory of God, and live; for there it appears in softened splendour; as the sun, when his brightness is diminished by a mist, is beheld more distinctly by the human eye. - Scott